Identifying optimal groundwater remediation strategies through a simulation-based PROMETHEE-TOPSIS approach: An application to a naphthalene-contaminated site

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to develop a simulation-aided PROMETHEE-TOPSIS approach for the selection of the most desirable groundwater remediation strategies. The combination methods enables a careful evaluation of the identified remediation alternatives in which their strong and weak points can be detected and a ranking is provided which facilitates the final selection for the decision-maker. The capabilities and effectiveness of the developed method are illustrated through a case study on the remedial alternative selection for a naphthalene contaminated site in Anhui, China. Four attributes (i.e., total pumping rate, total cost, mean residual contaminant concentration and maximum excess life time cancer risk) for fifty remedial alternatives in each duration are considered and analytic hierarchy process is used to determine the weight of attributes importance. The results demonstrates that the developed method could help decision makers obtain the useful ranking information strategies that covering a variety of decision-relevant remediation options, which is beneficial for public health and environmental protection.

Keywords:

• groundwater remediation
• PROMETHEE
• TOPSIS
• multi-attribute decision making
• human health risk

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA20040302), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities and Shanxi “1331 Project” Key Subjects Construction (1331KSC). National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFC0407201), National Natural Science Foundation of China (U1765202), Science Fund for Creative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51621092) and Langfang city science and technology research and development plan (2018013095).